The message on the signs is fairly simple, says Mike Fallos: “Don’t park where you shouldn’t.”
He knows of what he speaks because Mike, a member of the Fallos family which operates McClure’s Garage in Gurnee, towed 14 vehicles from where they didn’t belong on Saturday night. The reason: Fright Fest at Six Flags Great America, which also hosted an Oktoberfest celebration.
A wonderfully warm fall night brought out the crowds to the “Thrill Capital of the Midwest,” as Six Flags is now known. Indeed, a capacity crowd estimated by some at 46,000, caused inside-the-park parking lots to be at capacity, meaning parkgoers were left to look for alternate sites to leave their cars. Or drivers just didn’t want to pay the Six Flags parking fee.
Those off-park sites are home to businesses that contract with the garage and others to drag away cars and trucks taking up spaces for their customers. Hence, the tow jobs to McClure’s on Old Grand Avenue, across from Viking Park.
By the way, getting towed from one of the many parking lots surrounding Six Flags is costly. At a minimum, it’s a $400 charge at McClure’s. Signs are posted in the parking lots, warning of being towed, and what happens to violators.
That tow can ruin a festive time at Fright Fest if you are one of the thousands who enjoy paying to have the bejesus scared out of you. What is it about our penchant, especially this Hallows Eve time of year, for haunted houses, horror movies and the 33rd Fright Fest on the grounds of the 300-acre Six Flags?
The popular Fright Fest is a long way from the wholesome entertainment that was envisioned when Marriott’s Six Flags Great America opened Memorial Day weekend in 1976, the year of the nation’s Bicentennial. Since then, the park has welcomed an estimated 2.5 million visitors a year.
Park marketers call Fright Fest “monstertainment.” The macabre diversion includes the park’s 17 roller coasters, five haunted houses based on horror franchises, like the “Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” and other eerie and fiendish “scare zones.”
Undoubtedly, it is a scream fest. Which is what the 14 owners who returned to where they parked must have done when they found their vehicles missing. They may have thought their vehicles were stolen, which, in Chicagoland, is not an uncommon idea.
Upon calling Gurnee police to report the theft, they usually are informed the cars were yanked for parking in places they shouldn’t have been. It’s a complicated bureaucratic process towing a vehicle.
Vehicle VIN numbers need to be recorded, police have to be notified so everything remains legally correct. It’s also a time-consuming job, placing a locked vehicle on a flatbed truck to ensure no damage is done to it.
“It’s the worst part of our job,” Mike said of tow patrol. “We’d like to be doing something else.”
One thing should have been celebrating his fifth wedding anniversary. Instead, “I spent the night in the cab of a truck.”
It’s not like the McClure’s folks can be compared to the infamous “Lincoln Park Pirates” of folkie Steve Goodman’s classic 1972 tune. That’s where Chicago-based buccaneers found: “Be it, Edsel or Chevy, there’s no car too heavy.”
McClure’s, known for its automotive and small engine repairs, has been around since 1910 and the Fallos family traces its lineage to Mac McClure, who started working on horse-less carriages in the then-country burg.
Lake Countians must know about the towing crackdown in the lots buffering Six Flags because only one owner, from Wadsworth found their vehicle missing after the park shutdown at midnight. According to Jack Fallos, Mike’s dad, others from the region — from Plainfield to Elgin to St. Charles to Chicago — found their vehicles plucked from what they thought were safe parking spaces.
Six Flags’ draw across the Midwest is evident when Jack Fallos said one car that was towed was registered in Battle Creek, Michigan, another from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, and yet another from Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Surely, those out-of-state visitors had reservations for at least a night in a nearby motel, which must have spoiled their devilish weekend getaway.
“Some of them get hot about it,” Jack Fallos said of owners coming to claim their vehicles. “Others say, ‘Hey, I screwed up.’” He was up until 2 a.m. handling the paperwork and releasing the towed vehicles to their owners.
Fright Fest continues weekends through Nov. 3, although on Halloween night it also will be open to thrill-seekers. If last weekend, where the vehicles of parkgoers were lined up at the entrance an hour before opening at 11 a.m., was any indication, another record crowd could hit the park on Oct. 26 if the weather is right.
Mike Fallos said drivers should be warned. A horrific expensive tow could be in their future if Fright Festers ignore the signs.
Charles Selle is a former News-Sun reporter, political editor and editor.
X: @sellenews
